It's Never Too Late
by SweeneysBloodyRazor
Summary: AJ's absence makes her realize her true feelings for Paige and she returns to try and fix things between them. One shot requested by AyJay.


**Just wanna thank you guys for the reviews/faves you've given my other stories. Feel free to send more requests if you have any :)**

_"So...I'll be out of action for a while. A lot of minor injuries have been playing up so they just wrote me out for a bit so I can get better." _

_"Oh...well take care of yourself then." Paige looked down at the floor, trying not to show how much the news upset her. Sure, they didn't have anything to do with each other unless it was at work, but she'd started to feel something in the time they had spent together, something she had been trying to pluck up the courage to say. _

_AJ smiled, hoping it would hide the sadness in her eyes. "I will...though I'll miss training and stuff with you." There was so much more she wanted to say._

_Paige half smiled back. "Yeah, me too. I've gotta go, I guess I'll see you whenever you're back." And with that she turned to leave._

_"Paige, I..."_

_Paige turned back around, a slight glisten in her eyes. "Don't say anything, AJ. You're going, so go get better." She turned and walked out the door._

AJ felt her eyes sting at the memory. Was she really about to do this? She had to...this was her comeback, but more importantly, it was her chance to start winning Paige back. Seeing her with Natalya these past few weeks had hurt AJ more than she'd ever expected, making her chest ache with sadness and regret. And after being cleared by her doctors and given instructions by the story writers, here she was at the 2015 Royal Rumble.

"One minute AJ!" a voice called from behind her. She took a deep breath.

"UnbeLIEVEable, what a kick from Nikki Bella, right to the face of Paige!" Michael Cole announced. "Looks like the Anti-Diva could be in trouble."

"I have to agree with you, Michael. No way Paige can get up from that" JBL said excitedly. Nikki dropped to her knees to get the pin when..

"Let's light it up! Light it up, light it up" played loudly through the stadium. The audience started cheering loudly as AJ skipped down the ramp while Nikki looked over in disbelief, too shocked to remember she was in the middle of a match.

Paige felt a stab in her chest when she heard the unmistakable song start, was it really her? All her feelings from the last few months came rushing back at her at once, her stomach becoming a nervous flutter, but now was not the time for that. Thinking quickly, she took advantage of AJ's distraction and grabbed Nikki's leg, rolling her up. "1!...2!...3!" the audience shouted with each thump on the ring.

"And here's your winners...Paige and Natalyaaaa" the announcer yelled as Stars In The Night started playing. AJ suppressed her smile and shrugged, skipping back up the ramp and out of sight. The referee held Paige and Nattie's arms up as the Bellas backed away, completely in shock over what had just happened. Paige leant forward at them both, taunting them as she always did while Nattie waved.

AJ laughed out loud as she reached the locker room, the look on Nikki's face had been too funny. But her nerves quickly set back in as she realized Paige would be there soon. Taking a deep breath, she sat down on one of the benches and tried to come up with some sort of speech in her head. It proved a lot harder than she expected. She was soon pulled out of her thoughts by a voice a few feet away.

"I didn't know you were coming back tonight."

AJ looked up nervously, everything she'd been thinking suddenly flying out of her head and leaving her blank. "Yeah...I would've told you but I don't have your number and the writers said it'd be better as a surprise, you know for reactions and stuff."

"I get it" Paige said, her stomach feeling even worse than it did in the ring. "So, are you better now?" she asked, sitting down on the bench in front of AJ. She'd forgotten just how beautiful the smaller woman really was.

"Pretty much, like I said, they were only minor injuries..." she trailed off, looking away from Paige and down at the floor to try and get a grip on herself.

Paige flinched at the memory of the conversation AJ was referring to. Why had she walked away? She should've stayed, should've let AJ know how she was feeling. Was it too late to do that now? Of course it was...there was no way AJ could feel the same anyways. "That's good. I...I missed you."

AJ looked back up at Paige. Had she heard that right? Paige had said it so quietly that she almost thought she'd imagined it. "I missed you too...more than I thought I would."

"AJ..."

AJ cut her off. "There's something I have to tell you, something I should've said before."

Paige swallowed, not daring to get her hopes up. AJ took a deep breath to calm her voice. Her heart was hammering fast in her chest, but she had to try. "With all the time we spent together here, working out and chatting and stuff...I started feeling something. I started looking forward to work just because I knew I'd see you and get to spend time with you. But then I had to go and I fucked all that up and it's probably far too late now, fuck I know it is because you have Natalya and you don't even need me but being away from you just made me realize..." she stopped and sighed before continuing "I think I'm falling for you, Paige."

Paige couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Her eyes met AJ's for a brief moment before AJ stood up quickly. "That was stupid of me, I'm so sorry" she apologized, turning around. A knot formed in her throat and her eyes started pricking.

Paige stood up behind her, scared by the familiarity of the situation. She couldn't let AJ walk away like she had done. "AJ, turn around."

AJ did so, looking up into Paige's dark eyes. "Don't be sorry, I...I feel the same way. I've kinda had a crush on you since I made my debut and it grew...I do need you and I think I'm falling for you too" Paige confessed, hearing her heart pounding in her ears.

Paige opened her mouth to speak again but AJ raised a finger to the brits lips, stopping her. She stood up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Paige's neck, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. Paige inhaled fast in shock before responding by placing her hands on AJ's hips and returning the kiss.

They both pulled away from the kiss, AJ's arms still around Paige's neck. "I thought I was too late" she whispered, moving her arms down and hugging Paige tight, burying her head into the other girl's neck.

Paige returned the hug, breathing in the smell of AJ's hair. "It's never too late" she whispered back, holding her even tighter.


End file.
